I've written 5 novels and 2 non-fiction works.
In addition, I've penned over 200 articles on a wide variety of subjects.
But I'm also an avid reader and love to read what piques other writer's interests.
They tend to stay within the guidelines of subjects related to their expertise.
I would expect a travel agent to write about finding a good hotel in Rome, or a financial planner explaining the pros and cons of annuities.
But some of these other writers have strayed all over the place.
I see some writers that appear to have an unlimited amount of knowledge about every topic.
I wrote an article that describes how to spot an 'expert.
' It's a tongue-in-cheek discourse on why there are so many experts with so little actual qualifications.
So, when I see an article that is really masking an opinion piece, I tend to wonder about their ulterior motives.
It's one thing to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper giving a viewpoint on a current subject, like the bird flu or the Iraqi war.
It's another thing to write an article from the point of view as an expert.
I think that, in those instances, the author should begin with the phrase, "I'm no expert in this area.
This is just my opinion.
" At least we'll know where he or she stands.
I'm not immune to this problem.
Many on my recent articles are purely my own feelings on a particular matter.
I always give my qualifications either in the beginning or at the end, in the biography.
For example, if I've written about travel, I tell how many trips I've taken and to what locales.
This way, the reader can understand what level of expertise I'm representing.
Therefore, I expect the same from fellow authors.
If you say you are a marketing person and speaking about pets, don't be ashamed to say so.
You happen to own a pet and that's fine and therefore, fellow pet owners will relate to you.
But don't pretend to be a pet aficionado or veterinarian.
Always start the paper with a disclaimer that can even be self-deprecating, for effect.
For example: "I don't know much about the government of Kenya, but I would like to make a comment from a layman's perspective.
" Isn't that self-explanatory? Or "I have read about the problems surrounding global warning and would like to express an opinion.
" Now, is that too much to ask? At least the reader will be prepared for what follows, without any confusion in regard to credentials.
In addition, I appreciate the need for self-promotion by writing about subjects related to the writer's website they are hawking.
I've read everything from artwork to zoology in attempts to lure the reader to their site.
I would love everyone to come to mine, but I don't expect that everyone is interested in how the Yellow Pages function and how advertisers can save money.
Or where to get the best health information on the web.
I would never stoop to such tactics.
Of course you can simply skip to my bio at the end, but that would be very self-serving, even mentioning that fact.
No.
I'm far above that sneaky approach.
I would rather be known as the honest, hard-working writer, that places his disclaimer in the very first paragraph.
Leave the smoke and mirrors to the lesser amateurs that would rather have you believe they actually knew what they were writing about.
Finally, I would also hope that they might take the time to proofread their work.
I constantly find misspellings, punctuation and grammatical errors galore.
They tend to write in a hurry to churn out that next valuable piece that links them to their website or other promotion.
They value quantity over quality and sacrifice content and pertinent data.
I find that many of these articles have no point whatsoever.
They ramble on and on filling space and wasting our time.
As an intelligent reader, I imagine that you have gotten a great deal of insight into the meat to this discourse and will remember the lessons taught here.
You will also note that, compared to many other 'fakes' masquerading out there, this is the 'genuine' article.
In addition, I've penned over 200 articles on a wide variety of subjects.
But I'm also an avid reader and love to read what piques other writer's interests.
They tend to stay within the guidelines of subjects related to their expertise.
I would expect a travel agent to write about finding a good hotel in Rome, or a financial planner explaining the pros and cons of annuities.
But some of these other writers have strayed all over the place.
I see some writers that appear to have an unlimited amount of knowledge about every topic.
I wrote an article that describes how to spot an 'expert.
' It's a tongue-in-cheek discourse on why there are so many experts with so little actual qualifications.
So, when I see an article that is really masking an opinion piece, I tend to wonder about their ulterior motives.
It's one thing to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper giving a viewpoint on a current subject, like the bird flu or the Iraqi war.
It's another thing to write an article from the point of view as an expert.
I think that, in those instances, the author should begin with the phrase, "I'm no expert in this area.
This is just my opinion.
" At least we'll know where he or she stands.
I'm not immune to this problem.
Many on my recent articles are purely my own feelings on a particular matter.
I always give my qualifications either in the beginning or at the end, in the biography.
For example, if I've written about travel, I tell how many trips I've taken and to what locales.
This way, the reader can understand what level of expertise I'm representing.
Therefore, I expect the same from fellow authors.
If you say you are a marketing person and speaking about pets, don't be ashamed to say so.
You happen to own a pet and that's fine and therefore, fellow pet owners will relate to you.
But don't pretend to be a pet aficionado or veterinarian.
Always start the paper with a disclaimer that can even be self-deprecating, for effect.
For example: "I don't know much about the government of Kenya, but I would like to make a comment from a layman's perspective.
" Isn't that self-explanatory? Or "I have read about the problems surrounding global warning and would like to express an opinion.
" Now, is that too much to ask? At least the reader will be prepared for what follows, without any confusion in regard to credentials.
In addition, I appreciate the need for self-promotion by writing about subjects related to the writer's website they are hawking.
I've read everything from artwork to zoology in attempts to lure the reader to their site.
I would love everyone to come to mine, but I don't expect that everyone is interested in how the Yellow Pages function and how advertisers can save money.
Or where to get the best health information on the web.
I would never stoop to such tactics.
Of course you can simply skip to my bio at the end, but that would be very self-serving, even mentioning that fact.
No.
I'm far above that sneaky approach.
I would rather be known as the honest, hard-working writer, that places his disclaimer in the very first paragraph.
Leave the smoke and mirrors to the lesser amateurs that would rather have you believe they actually knew what they were writing about.
Finally, I would also hope that they might take the time to proofread their work.
I constantly find misspellings, punctuation and grammatical errors galore.
They tend to write in a hurry to churn out that next valuable piece that links them to their website or other promotion.
They value quantity over quality and sacrifice content and pertinent data.
I find that many of these articles have no point whatsoever.
They ramble on and on filling space and wasting our time.
As an intelligent reader, I imagine that you have gotten a great deal of insight into the meat to this discourse and will remember the lessons taught here.
You will also note that, compared to many other 'fakes' masquerading out there, this is the 'genuine' article.
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